ABSTRACT
Haihau district is flat and just a half a metre above sea level. Most of the farms are small – approximately 800 square metres. There are a few small villages, but most people live in the countryside. Farming accounts for three-quarters of the local economy. The primary crop is rice, but farmers also grow maize, sweet potatoes, vegetables, legumes, litchis, oranges and pomelos. Farmers in the district currently plant 12 different rice varieties, including several hybrids and four local varieties: Tamxoan, Nep cai hoa vang, Nep Thau dau and Nep Ba Lao. Of these four local varieties, Tamxoan has historically been the most popular, partly based on the fact that the other three varieties are glutinous (i.e. ‘sticky’ rice) – which are generally less widely used in Vietnam than nonglutinous rice – and also because of its flavour, soft texture and length.
